First race of the track season

Stopped off at the Duncan Mackinnon reserve on my ride home from work on Thursday night and arrived just in time for the last heat of the 1500 m. Being the last heat, it was composed mainly of kids and fat, old men, so the chances of getting pulled along to a fast time by the pack weren't looking good. Martin Spiteri from my club rocked up even later than me and seeing as he's been quicker than me at every race this year, I said I'd stick behind him...Didn't happen:P After 200 m, I got sick of being boxed in and running at what felt like a slow pace and shot off. For the next 400 m I was feeling good and had put quite a big margin on everyone, but it didn't last. When the bell rang for the final lap, I had nothing left and couldn't respond when Martin went past and yelled for me to tuck in. My legs tied up badly over the last 200 m and it must've been showing because another guy from my club yelled out 'Don't worry, you're nearly there now!":P

T'was clearly a show of inexperience from someone who hasn't run a 1500 since grade 5, but I'm not displeased with a 4:54 (Martin ran 4:47, so that shows how badly I faded/how weak my finishing kick was:P). Went into the race thinking I'd do somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00, so I guess I met my goal:) Plugging it into the prediction tables, it is a big underperformance (apparently I should be running about 4:37 based on my HM PB), but that just means it'll be easier to PB next time:P

Next race isn't for two weeks, so plenty of time to work on my speed.

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Training wise I've started doing some interval workouts. Did 4x400 m in 72s with 2:00 on Tuesday and then gutted out 5x400 on Friday. Aerobically I could manage with shorter recoveries, but running at that pace really smashes my legs. The plan is to up the number of reps by one each workout until I can do 12x400 and then start increasing the length of each rep. Ultimately I'd like to be able to do 6x1200 at 3:00/k with 60s JR. I'm a long way off that shape at the moment though..

My strength has been improving in leaps and bounds. It seems every time I hit the gym I'm able to lift/push more weight. Managed 75 pushups on Friday and leg pressed 100kg. Not sure whether it helps my running at all, but it's quite addictive:P